Matt Fraser scored his first playoff goal at 1:19 of sudden-death overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, at the Bell Centre, taking Game 4 to even their best-of-seven, second-round playoff series at two games apiece. Here are five things we learned from Thursday night's game:

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Posted May. 9, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Posted May. 9, 2014 at 12:01 AM

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Matt Fraser scored his first playoff goal at 1:19 of sudden-death overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, at the Bell Centre, taking Game 4 to even their best-of-seven, second-round playoff series at two games apiece. Here are five things we learned from Thursday night's game:

GETTING BETTER

In the biggest game of their season, the Bruins' most effective forward line consisted of three players who were newcomers to the organization in 2013. Centered by Carl Soderberg, who had a bit part in last year's Stanley Cup final, mainstay Loui Eriksson was joined on the wing by Matt Fraser, another one of those extras that came back from Dallas in the Tyler Seguin trade. Justin Florek had been sent back to the minors and Jordan Caron was scratched. The revamped third line relentlessly got the puck behind Montreal's defense and worked tirelessly to create fatigue. They swarmed the Canadiens' end in the opening minute of overtime, and when Carey Price lost track of a rebound off the end boards Eriksson and Fraser whacked at it, Fraser connecting to nudge it inside the left post for the first playoff overtime game winner of his career. "Words can't describe it," Fraser told NBCSN's Pierre McGuire after the game. "I played for the Stanley Cup a thousand times on my buddy's outdoor rink. To do it in a place like this is amazing."

SECRET ADMIRER

Midway through the third period, Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin crushed David Krejci, head-first into the corner boards. The Bruins went on the power play, but the closest they got to scoring was when Reilly Smith clanged a shot off the crossbar. It was one of three posts the Bruins hit in the game. Jarome Iginla and Soderberg both rung the post in the first period, and as the night went on the game alternated between dangerous opportunities for Montreal that Tuukka Rask (33 saves) pulled in — some with adventure — and hard-working chances that Price made look easier, except for those three posts. The goal post is often said to be the goalie's best friend, but in the case of Price they haven't been his savior — more like validation of his impeccable positioning and the Bruins' desperation to find holes in his armor.

Matt Bartkowski, whose two penalties led to the pair of P.K. Subban power-play goals that decided Game 1, went back into the lineup for Game 4 and Andrej Meszaros came back out. Bartkowski provided a higher tempo than Meszaros, but remains vulnerable to penalties. In Game 4 he got caught holding Lars Eller midway through the second. The payback almost came when Max Pacioretty missed a one-timer and the Bruins survived. Should the Bruins survive the series, an appearance in the 2014 Eastern Conference final will turn Philadelphia's compensation for Meszaros from a third-round pick this year into a second-rounder, provided Meszaros plays two-thirds of Boston's playoff games (4-for-9 so far). And every new day brings the subplot of a Dennis Seidenberg comeback closer.

Through two road games in Montreal — that's 121:19 of playing time — Soderberg (goalie interference in Game 3) and Bartkowski (holding in Game 4) were the only Bruins to visit the penalty box. Did the Bruins catch a break because of the comments Coach Claude Julien made during the regular season and in this series? They didn't get away with anything that the Canadiens didn't get away with, too, but the Bruins got what they wanted — a pair of road games based on 5-on-5 hockey, where Julien's team is most confident. Some plays that could have landed a Bruin in the box: Iginla's hit on Pacioretty, Kevan Miller's hit behind the Boston net. And this was the first period. The Bruins were given every opportunity to find their game, and for the most part they did, outshooting Montreal 35-33. But it wasn't until the latter stages of the second period and early in the third when the quality of their chances matched the quantity of them.

TO LIVE THE PATRIOT WAY

The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls with an all-star cast of assistants around head coach Bill Belichick, but in the past decade several of those assistants and management personnel became former assistants of the Patriots and head coaches or general managers of other NFL teams. The Bruins are starting to feel the pinch of their own successes, as assistant GM Jim Benning reportedly met with the Vancouver Canucks about their vacant GM position. Benning, a former NHL defenseman, had been alongside Peter Chiarelli since year one of the current regime, and Boston's management and coaching staffs have earned respect around the NHL for putting together a team that figures to contend for the Stanley Cup year in and year out. The thing about losing someone like Benning to a GM job is he is bound to take a member of the coaching staff with him.

Mick Colageo covers hockey for The Standard-Times. Contact him at mcolageo@s-t.com, visit Rink Rap at blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins and follow on Twitter @MickColageo.